The 30th Anniversary of Masters of the Universe continues and Mattel has chosen to make another core character available year round so let's dive right in and take a look at He-Man's most loyal companion: Battle Cat!

As the first large scale beast released in the line, Battle Cat set the standard for packaging of guys this size. For reasons I don't know his white mailer features the phrase "Battle For Eternia". His box features the same green brick insert design as the figures and has a wrap around plastic window showing off the animal inside. The back of the box, like the figures, shows off other figures in the line. Of interesting note, the characters chosen are the original 8 characters from the vintage line. (Well almost, for some reason they used the 200X Zodak instead of the vintage style Zodac) It also has a picture of the new figure next to his bio.

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Battle Cat, Fighting Tiger

Real Name: Cringer™

A member of the Green Tiger Tribe, Cringer™ was saved from a parek-narr attack by a young Prince Adam® and afterwards became his devoted companion for life. He assisted Adam during his quest to unite both halves of the Power Sword® of He and afterwards was enhanced by its power to become Battle Cat®, the Fighting Tiger of Eternia®. Cringer™ is one of only a handful of allies who knows Adam’s secret and fights alongside the other Masters of the Universe®, carrying He-Man® into battle against the forces of evil.
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Overall I like this bio. I'm not sure what a parek-narr is, but otherwise the only issue I have is one that keeps coming up -the two halves of the Power Sword thing. But even bigger than the halves issue is the new angle where it is called the Sword of He, and was sent to Eternia by the Trollans?!? Look I like Trollans, I love Orko, I really love Dree Elle, (Okay I hate Yuckers but come on...) however this story angle just doesn't work for me. No, It's the Power Sword, or the Sword of Grayskull. Sword of He just sounds corny, even for this line which does have some pretty goofy names in it.

One thing I kind of do like is how it doesn't mention one way or the other if Battle Cat can talk. He always did in the vintage storyline, but in 200X he could not. There are plenty of fans on both sides of the debate so it's good that the bio leaves it open to interpretation. (FYI- I like him to talk)

On to the figure itself. This guy is awesome! The amount of detailing in every aspect is incredible and the paint job brings out every bit of those details. Now the only real accessories he has are his saddle and helmet, but that's all he needs. The armor is modeled after the vintage style, for which I'm glad.

The 200X Battle Cat had radically redesigned armor which included missile launching guns. I normally prefer to display mine without the guns, (he never used them on the cartoon) but for this comparison shot I wanted to show them to emphasize how I prefer the vintage armor look.

Side by side with the vintage figure you can really see how the look was captured and fleshed out. The armor is done in a sort of two tone red with a metallic look to the detailing such as the spikes. The seat of the armor features small indents which help He-Man sit in the saddle without interference from his loincloth piece. You'll notice two small straps near where He-Man's feet are when he's riding. At first they look like stirrups, but are too far forward for his feet to reach and are too small anyway. Apparently these are meant to be holsters for weapons. (Though why He-Man would keep his sword down there I don't know especially since he has a holster on his own armor. Also wouldn't the sword bang into Battle Cat's leg as he runs?)

The armor is removable via a peg on the side but does keep the buckle strap look of the original without having the strap stick out like crazy. The helmet fits snugly onto the head so no worries about it falling off.

Under the helmet we see more of the awesome detailing that went into this sculpt. This is no fraidy cat Cringer! (that came later packed in with Queen Marlena) This is one ferocious fighting tiger. That awesome attention to detail even goes to the underside where we can see sculpted and painted dune claws and paw pads!

Right about now you may be asking what that grey plastic piece is. That is not part of the figure. I put that there because of the one problem I have with my figure. His neck joint is a bit loose and his head keeps slipping down, especially when the added weight of the helmet is on. I had to jam that thing in there to hold his head up on display. Now, I want to emphasize this seems to be a problem with MY Battle Cat, and judging by other pictures I've seen this is not the norm for the figure.

On that note let's talk about articulation. Just as the human figures have more articulation than ever before, so too does Battle Cat. Maybe it's partly because the vintage cat had absolutely no articulation, but the amount found on this Classics version is mind blowing! His jaw opens and closes, his head turns side to side, his neck moves up and down, each of his 4 legs feature swivel joints at the shoulder/hips, and ball joints at the paws. His front legs have ball joints at the knees while the back have joints at the knee and calve. Even his tail has a ball joint. Plus there is an articulation point in the middle of his body, that only gives slight movement partly hindered by the saddle but still adds more to an already impressive amount.

Battle Cat is an amazing figure. the sculpt is perfect, He-Man looks fantastic sitting on him, and they just complete each other. This is a must have for any collector.

Battle Cat is available now on Mattycollector.com and will be year round. Until next time, Good Journey!

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